Eric J. Gouvin

Professor Eric Gouvin has been a member of the Western New England University School of Law faculty since 1991. He was tenured and promoted to full professor in 1996. He served as Associate Dean for External Affairs during the 2003-2004 academic year and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2004-2009. From 2009-2013 he served as Director of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which he founded. In 2013 he was appointed Dean of the School of Law. In 2018 he returned to the faculty.

During his time on the faculty he has taught contracts, business organizations, business planning, banking regulation, secured transactions, and other business-related courses, including an innovative course blending practice and theory called the Transactional Lawyering Seminar. He has also taught in the Small Business Clinic, which he founded in the fall of 2002. He has a strong interest in business law beyond our borders as well, having taught in Lithuania and in France, presented lectures in China as a Fulbright Specialist, and delivered papers in England, Belgium, Greece, France, and Canada.

After several years of running the the Small Business Clinic, Professor Gouvin was the moving force behind the creation of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship, a collaborative effort with the Western New England University College of Business, which, in turn, became the campus-wide Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Prior to 1991, Professor Gouvin practiced corporate, banking, and commercial law with the firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in Portland, Maine. At the firm Professor Gouvin helped to represent a diverse array of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to closely held businesses.

An active member of the American Bar Association, Professor Gouvin has cochaired the Business Law Education Committee of the Business Law Section and chaired the Adjunct Faculty Committee of the Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. He was a presidential appointee to the ABA Advisory Committee on Substance Abuse. He has also served on the executive committees of three different sections of the Association of American Law Schools, including as chair of the Section on Transactional Law and Skills.

Professor Gouvin holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the Boston University School of Law. His numerous scholarly writings cover topics as diverse as entrepreneurship policy, corporate law, banking, and international issues. He is a coauthor of the treatise Blumberg on Corporate Groups with Phillip Blumberg and Kurt Strasser at the University of Connecticut School of Law and Nicholas Georgakopoulos at the Indiana University (Indianapolis) School of Law.

To see the profile of Professor Gouvin that appeared in Perspectives, the alumni magazine for the School of Law, click here.

To see the faculty profile of Professor Gouvin that appeared in Perspectives back when he had more (and darker-colored) hair, click here.

Administrative Appointments

Chief Executive Officer in the School of Law; responsible for all aspects of the School of Law, including academic program, budgeting, fundraising, personnel, admissions, finance, career services and alumni affairs.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (7/2004 - 6/2009)

Chief Academic Officer in the School of Law; responsible for oversight of the internal affairs of the School of Law, including: - Curriculum development, scheduling, externships, adjunct hiring, and academic standards. - Student discipline, transfer requests, and other administrative matters. - Co-ordination of efforts with partner institutions to administer joint degree programs. - Supervising, supporting, and evaluating the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Registrar, and Clinic Coordinator.

Associate Dean for External Affairs (7/2003 - 6/2004)

Responsible for oversight of the admissions, alumni, and career services functions in the School of Law, including: - Supervising the Assistant Deans of Admissions, Career Services, and Development and Alumni Relations. - Collaborate with Director of Admissions to plan, budget, and execute strategy to achieve admissions goals. - Collaborate with Director of Career Services to promote graduate placement. - Collaborate with Alumni Director to enhance alumni satisfaction and facilitate development efforts. - Website management, and supervision of law school publications. - Coordination with local bar associations and liaison with central administration. - Managing the budgets for the admissions, alumni, and career services offices in co-operation with the Assistant Deans.

Initiated and developed an interdisciplinary project between the School of Law and the College of Business at Western New England University to provide legal and business services to low-income entrepreneurs, host educational events for the community, and establish a resource center for small businesses. In 2011 expanded the program to all the academic units in the University to support entrepreneurship and innovation across campus.

- Participated in development efforts resulting in three grants totaling $1.6 million and a federal earmark of $100,000. - Worked with Advancement Office to make calls on donors and to develop grant proposals, gifts and sponsorships. - Oversaw the budget for Center activities, including resource center acquisitions, travel, conferences, and programming. - Coordinated efforts with local service providers to support entrepreneurship without duplicating efforts. - Managed the Center, support the Small Business Clinic, assist in programming, marketing, and community outreach.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Courses taught: Business organizations, business planning, transactional lawyering seminar, the Small Business Clinic, secured transactions, contracts, corporate finance, banking law, and regulation of financial institutions. Also served as faculty advisor to the corporate moot court team, transactional law meet team, and various independent studies and internships. Served as Faculty Advisor to the students in the business law concentration and the JD/MBA program.

Coordinated efforts of the School of Law and the College of Business in cooperation with local business incubators at Springfield Technical Community College's Scibelli Enterprise Center to provide pro bono business and legal services for small businesses in the start-up phase. Supervised student attorneys, arranged for lecturers, and sought funding for clinic activities. Served as liaison to community development organizations. Materially participated in fundraising effort that resulted in a million dollar grant to establish the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship as the institutional home for the Small Business Clinic. Materially participated in subsequent fundraising efforts leading to additional grants.

On Death and Magic: Law, Necromancy and the Great Beyond, in Law and Magic (Christine Corcos, ed. Carolina Academic Press, 2010).

Book Contributions:

Economic Sanctions, (Michael P. Malloy, ed., Edward Elgar, 2014, part of the series The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, Mark Blaug, ed.) [reprinting Are There Any Checks and Balances on the Government’s Power to Check our Balances? The Fate of Financial Privacy in the War on Terror, 14 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 517 (2005)].

Law and Entrepreneurship (Robert Litan & Anthony Luppino, eds., Edward Elgar, 2013) [reprinting Of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs: Toward a Public Policy That Supports New Venture Formation, in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Evolving Economies: The Role of Law, 27-47 (2012) and Teaching Business Lawyering in Law Schools: A Candid Assessment of the Challenges and Some Suggestions for Moving Ahead, 78 UMKC Law Review, 429-453 (2009)].

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

Scholarly Presentations:

Presenter, “What’s Law Got to Do with it? The power of brand and corporate culture in a battle between managers and directors,” at Market Basket Online Mini-Symposium, New England Law | Boston, Boston, MA, June 24, 2016

Presenter, “It’s the Little Things that Make Law Such a Big Deal: Identifying and Eliminating Barriers to New Business Formation,” at National Business Law Scholars Conference, Seton Hall Law School, Newark, NJ, June 5, 2015.

“Legal Support of Incubating Businesses: What, When, Who and Where? at Symposium: Incubators: Function and Future, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Columbus, OH, Mar. 29, 2013.

It’s the Little Things that Make Law Such a Big Deal: Identifying and Eliminating Barriers to New Business Formation, at Annual Meeting, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), New Orleans, LA, Jan. 15, 2012 [peer-reviewed].

“Of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs: Toward a Public Policy That Supports New Venture Formation,” at “Evolving Economies: The Role of Law in Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, Fort Worth, TX, Apr. 1, 2011.

"Wilkes v. Springside Nursing Home, Inc.: The Backstory,” at the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship 5th Annual Conference: “Fiduciary Duties in the Closely-Held Business 35 Years After Wilkes v. Springside Nursing Home," at Western New England University School of Law, Oct. 15, 2010.

“Criminal Sanctions in Corporate Governance: A Comparative Examination of French and American Approaches to the Misuse of Corporate Assets,” at the Seventh Annual International Conference on Law at the Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece. July 19-22, 2010.

"The Kauffman Foundation’s eLaw Website Scholarship Materials – First Year Progress Report," at the Ninth Annual Transactional Law Clinic Conference and Workshop held at the Arizona State University College of Law, Scottsdale, AZ, Apr. 30, 2010.

"Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship 4th Annual Conference: Women, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship," conference coordinator and moderator of a panel "Access to Financial Capital,” Western New England University School of Law, Oct. 23, 2009.

Presenter, "Entrepreneurship Scholarship and the Kauffman Foundation’s eLaw Website Development Project," at the Eighth Annual Transactional Law Clinic Conference and Workshop, the George Washington University Law School, Apr. 24, 2009.

Panelist, “Harry Potter and the Law,” at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Apr. 4, 2009, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA.

“Looking for Lessons from the US: Deregulation, Market Failure and Government Intervention – What Have we Learned?” at “Banking Law Conference: Is the Bank Crisis also a Crisis in Banking Law?” at Free University of Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 22, 2008.

Commenter on Jonathan Macey’s presentation “The Federal Banking Bailout: Success or Failure?” at Western New England University School of Law, Federalist Society, Nov. 11, 2008.

"Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship 3rd Annual Conference: Current Issues in Entrepreneurship and Community Economic Development," conference coordinator and moderator of a panel "Looking Ahead: Political Outcomes and Policy Implications,” at Western New England University School of Law, Oct. 17, 2008.

“Why Comparative Corporate Law Matters,” at “Perspectives on International Law and Comparative Law,” University of Paris X (Nanterre), France, June 16, 2008.

Commenter on David Reiss’s article “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Public Mission: Are the Benefits Worth the Risk?” at University of Connecticut’s 2008 Junior Scholars’ Workshop on Banking and Consumer Financial Services Law, May 28, 2008

“In re Disney and Its Aftermath,” presented at a panel discussion entitled “Executive Compensation and Golden Parachutes – a Comparative Look at a Common Problem,” at the University of Paris X (Nanterre), France, June 20, 2007.

Conference coordinator and moderator of a panel “Fringe Banking and the Community – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” as part of the “Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship 2nd Annual Conference: Current Issues in Community Development," at Western New England University School of Law, Mar. 30, 2007.

Conference coordinator and moderator of a panel entitled “The Future of the Community Reinvestment Act,” as part of the “Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship 1st Annual Conference: Current Issues in Community Development," at Western New England University School of Law, Mar. 24, 2006.

“Comparing Canadian and American Approaches to Large Bank Mergers,” at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Law & Economics Association, University of Toronto, Sept. 23-24, 2005.

“Bank Merger Guidelines in the United States and Canada,” at the University of the Pacific–McGeorge School of Law as part of a symposium entitled "International Financial Services: Diverse Approaches in a Globalized Environment", Nov. 5, 2004

"Money Laundering: Striking a Balance Between Privacy and Security,” as part of a symposium entitled "Balancing Security and Liberty in the New Century" at Temple University, Oct. 15, 2004.

Bankers on the Front Lines – The Anti-Money Laundering Measures in the USA PATRIOT Act delivered at Western New England University School of Law as part of a program addressing the legal responses to terrorism, Sept. 20, 2002.

"The Political Economy of Canada's 'Widely Held' Rule for Large Banks," presented at the Annual Meeting Canadian Law & Economics Association, University of Toronto, Sept. 28-29, 2001.

“Financial Holding Company Liability After Gramm-Leach-Bliley,” presented at a conference on Financial Modernization After Gramm-Leach-Bliley at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, May 18, 2001.

“Applying the Massachusetts Low to Moderate Income Housing Act in Rural Communities – The Perspective of the local Zoning Board of Appeals,” presented at a Conference on Increasing Affordable Housing and Regional Housing Opportunity, Western New England University School of Law, Dec. 10, 1999.

"Banking in North America: Public Choice vs. Public Policy," presented at the Annual Meeting Canadian Law & Economics Association, University of Toronto, Sept. 26, 1998.

“Control in Corporate Groups – A Global View,” presented a paper examining the differences in bank regulation among the NAFTA countries, especially relating to industry structure, and the implications of those differences for trade policy, held at the University of Connecticut, Apr. 3-4, 1998.

Presentations on Legal Pedagogy:

Co-Presenter with Esther Barron, Praveen Kosuri, Anthony Luppino and Karl Okamoto, “Using the Other ‘Case Method’ for Teaching Transactional Skills,” presented at “Method in the Madness: The Art and Science of Teaching transactional Law and Skills,” at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, GA, June 11, 2016.

Co-Presenter. “Using the Other ‘Case Method’ for Teaching Transactional Skills” at 15th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, MD, April 29, 2016.

Co-Presenter with Dana Malkus, Usha Rodrigues, and Scott Stevenson, “The Lawyer’s Toolbox: Teaching Students About Risk Allocation,” at “Preparing the Transactional Lawyer: From Doctrine to Practice,” at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, GA, Nov. 2, 2012.

Co-Presenter with Dr. Harlan Spotts, “Case Study: Rusty’s Custom Cycles,” at the Annual Meeting of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), New Orleans, LA, January 15, 2012 [peer-reviewed submission].

Presenter, “Quantifying the Pedagogical Value of an Integrated Business and Law Outreach Approach,” at Research and Pedagogical Trends in Entrepreneurship Education, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, May 12, 2011.

Why do Interdisciplinary Work in Entrepreneurship?at the session on the Law & Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), Hilton Head, SC (via Skype), Jan. 13, 2011.

Poster Presentation, “The Kauffman Foundation’s eLaw Project: An online Community for Scholars and Teachers,” at Annual Meeting, Association of American Law Schools (AALS), San Francisco, CA, Jan. 7, 2011,

“The Making of a Deal Lawyer,” presentation to law faculty at University of Northern Kentucky Chase School of Law, Highland Heights, KY, Sept. 15, 2010.

“What Every Business Lawyer Should Know (But probably Won’t Learn in Law School),” presentation to law students at University of Northern Kentucky Chase School of Law, Highland Heights, KY, Sept. 15, 2010.

“Using Transactions to Teach Secured Transactions,” presented at “Transactional Education: What’s Next” as part of a panel entitled “Upper-level Courses: Three Exemplars,” at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, GA, June 5, 2010.

“Playing Well With Others: Lessons Learned about Interdisciplinary Work,” presented at “Transactional Education: What’s Next” on panel “Interdisciplinary Transactional Courses,” at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, GA, June 4, 2010.

“Putting Business into Business Law,” at the Ninth Annual Transactional Law Clinic Conference and Workshop at Arizona State University College of Law, Scottsdale, AZ, Apr. 30, 2010.

“What Every New Business Lawyer Needs to Know (But Probably Didn’t Learn in Law School),” at ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, July 31, 2009.

“Telling Business Stories,” presented at “Once Upon a Legal Time: Developing the Skills of Storytelling in Law,” City University, London, UK, July 20, 2007.

“So You Want to Be an Adjunct Law Professor…,” presented at the Spring Meeting of the Section on Business Law, American Bar Association, Washington, DC, Mar. 18, 2007.

“Curriculum: Teaching Materials and Methodology” at University of Pennsylvania Law School, Third Annual Meeting of Law School Small Business Clinic Educators, sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Apr. 16, 2004.

“Teaching GameBoy-ers: PowerPoint, CALI Lessons, Excel and Developing Synergies With Research,” with Nicholas Georgakopoulos, delivered at the 2003 Annual Conference for Law School Computing at Duke University Law School, June19-21, 2003.

“Starting a Business Law Clinic to Serve Real Clients” at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, as part of the Second Annual Meeting of Law School Small Business Clinic Educators, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, Apr. 25, 2003.

"Improving Editorial Review of CALI Lessons," 2002 Annual Conference for Law School Computing, panelist in discussion of methods to improve the effectiveness of editorial review of computer-based law instruction lessons, held at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL, June 20-22, 2002.

“Using the Exam as a Teaching Tool,” presented at an AALS Conference on New Ideas for Experienced Teachers, Calgary, Alberta (presentation was selected by organizers from thirty-seven proposals submitted by law faculty nationwide), June 12, 2001.

Public Presentations:

Presenter, “Introduction to Law School and the Legal Profession,” Westfield State University Pre-Law Society, Westfield, MA, March 24, 2016.

Presenter, “Introduction to Law School and the Legal Profession,” Smith College Career Services Office, Northampton, MA, March 7, 2016.

Presenter, “Introduction to Legal Analysis and Legal Reasoning,” Western New England University Mini Law School, Springfield, MA, October 20, 2015.

Guest Lecturer, “Introduction to Law School and the Legal Profession,” Western New England University LA 100 First Year Seminar, September 30, 2015.

Presenter, “Introduction to Law School and the Legal Profession,” Smith College Career Services Office, Northampton, MA, April 1, 2015.

Presenter, “Legal Analysis and Legal Reasoning,” Western New England University Mini Law School, Springfield, MA, February 10, 2015.

Presenter, “Avoiding the Most Common Small Business Legal Mistakes,” co-presented with Michele Feinstein and Prof. Robert Statchen at the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, Springfield, MA, November 18, 2014.

Debater, versus Dr. Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, “Schumpeter’s Theory of the End of Capitalism: Is Obama Destroying Capitalism?” presented by the Federalist Society, Western New England University School of Law, Sept. 16, 2010 (refuting the claim).

“Choosing a Legal Entity for a Start-up Company,” workshop presented to Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund clients at Open Square in Holyoke, MA, Oct. 14, 2009.

"Top Ten Legal Mistakes of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs," for high school teachers involved in the YES! (Young Entrepreneurial Scholars) at the Scibelli Enterprose Center, Springfield, MA, Mar. 27, 2008.

"Legal Issues for Entrepreneurs," for high scool students in the entrepreneurship course at Wilbraham and Monson Academy, Wilbraham, MA, Dec. 10, 2007.

"Legal Consideration in the Sale of a Business," Entrepreneurial Workshop at the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship, Scibelli Enterprise Center, Springfield, MA, Sept. 13, 2007.

“Introduction to American Business Entities,” Guest Lecturer, Yale English Language Institute, invited to address group of foreign lawyers and LL.M. students about basic US corporate and securities issues, July 14, 2003.

“Representing the Penobscots – An Outsider’s View,” John F. Kennedy School of Government, Panel on Native American Development at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University, Nov. 19, 1998.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

Legal Practice Experience:

Attorney (6/86 - 6/91)Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, Portland, Maine Member of the corporate/commercial department of Maine’s third largest firm with national, regional, and local clients. Practice regularly included advising entrepreneurs on matters of organization, planning, and acquisitions. Significant work involved securities law, commercial lending, and banking regulatory matters. Exceptional projects included participating in the representation of:

Georgia-Pacific as Maine counsel in its hostile tender offer for Great Northern Nekoosa;

American Home Products in its takeover of American Cyanamid;

Suffield Financial Corporation against its Maine banking subsidiary which was attempting to assert its independence;

First NH Banks, Inc. in establishing First NH Bank of Maine, a de novo state-chartered bank under Maine's interstate banking law; and

The Penobscot Indian Nation during a period of intense tribal political upheaval.

“What Every Business Lawyer Should Know (But Probably Didn’t Learn in Law School),” presentation to law students at University of Northern Kentucky Chase School of Law, Highland Heights, KY, Sept. 15, 2010.

“What Every New Business Lawyer Needs to Know,” at ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, July 31, 2009.

“It Is a Small World After All: Cultural Competency and the Business Lawyer,” moderator, Spring Meeting ABA Section on Business Law, Vancouver, BC, Apr. 16, 2009.

“At the Intersection of Knowledge Management and Associate Development: Using Technology to Help Train Business Lawyers,” program chair and moderator, Spring Meeting, ABA Business Law Section, Tampa, FL, Apr. 6-9, 2006.

My classroom strategies vary depending on the type of course. In big, required, courses like contracts and business organizations, I use a modified Socratic approach in my teaching. I aim to engage the students in a conversation without intimidating them. In upper level electives, I generally incorporate some element of practice simulation, usually drawn from case files I have prepared to illustrate the issues in the course.

In all my courses I try to bring lawyering skills into the classroom and often make students work through cases by engaging in role-playing exercises. I also believe that technology can be a helpful teaching tool and have been integrating CALI lessons and PowerPoint presentations into my classroom. I use West Publishing's TWEN course management system to post assignments, materials use in class and daily "interesting tid-bits" for further, optional enrichment reading.

In addition to my service at Western New England, I have also taught a course in comparative corporate law several times as a Visiting Professor at the Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense in France and at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. In the spring of 2012 I delivered a series of lectures in Chongqing China at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law as a Fulbright Specialist. It is a truism that the world has become a very small place. Certainly, business law and business transactions routinely span international borders. I have written several articles focusing on international or comparative law, and have spoken at events in France, Greece, Belgium, England, and Canada. Some of my experiences teaching in France are chronicled in an alumni news article available here.

In 2003, I was honored when my students elected me as Professor of the Year. On a faculty where teaching is so highly valued, I felt that was a special honor Listed below are links to the Introtuctory Remarks at the awards presentation, the write-up in the student newspaper, Lex Brevis, and the official press release from our Department of Marketing and Communications.

Professor Gouvin's teaching philosophy:

I believe students come to law school expecting to enter the legal profession. They do not, in general, plan to become law professors. I try to keep that in mind as I design my courses. I strive to provide the balance between theory and practice necessary to give my students a truly professional education. When I think about professional education, the ideal that I have in mind is the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. I spent my sabbatical there in 1998-1999 and was impressed by the way the school melded the conceptual and the practical. The Kennedy School is by no means a vocational school, but it is an institution that does not lose sight of the fact that it is educating students to take their place in the public arena. It prepares students to play a role in the real world, to make changes to that world, and to respond to changes in that world by helping students create useful mental models of how the world works -- models that are informed by theory, of course, but which are grounded in experience.

Law schools would do well to emulate that approach. That is not to say that law schools should be glorified CLE programs. Far from it. Lawyers need a theoretical foundation in order to understand the law and the lawyer's role in it. They need to know where the law came from and where it might go next. They need a conceptual framework to assess whether a given change in the law makes sense or is misguided. Without a view of the legal forest lawyers will certainly get lost in the trees. Indeed, I often tell my students that there are few things more practical than a good theory.

That being said, however, law schools should not lose sight of the fact that they are preparing students to enter the legal profession. A student who is conversant in, say, economics and law, but who cannot draft a contract has not received a professional education. The student may have received a wonderful graduate-school type education, as the intersection of law and economics is a fascinating area to explore, but it would not be a professional education without the additional piece of knowing what lawyers can do with that knowledge.

In some law schools professors either don't know or don't care enough about the subjects they teach to provide that last dimension of showing how theory plays out in the real world. Luckily, I do know of what I speak. I know the challenges and rewards of being a business lawyer. I practiced law for five years before entering the professorial ranks. I have run the Small Business Clinic. I am actively involved in the ABA. I serve on small business advisory boards at a local business incubator. I run the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

In addition, I actually care about the courses I teach. Indeed, I think the subjects I teach are the most interesting and important subjects in the curriculum. I find the business law material to be fascinating in part because there are so many interesting stories behind the cases. I love those stories, like the clash of wills between the Dodge brothers and Henry Ford, or the strained relationship between Mssrs. Meinhard and Salmon, or the labor strife between the fishermen and the cannery owners in the Alaska Packers case. I share these stories with my students to spark their interest in the cases as fascinating slices of life. I want them to see that business law is first and foremost about relationships. The relationships are set in the context of business transactions, but they are relationships nevertheless.

Because I care about my subjects and think they are important, I want my students to learn these subjects. I know that it will not be obvious to my students just how interesting and important these subjects are. One of my goals is to get them to see that point. To do so, I try to make the material accessible at the outset and then proceed to develop an appreciation for the more sophisticated points.

The first part of the formula – accessibility – is crucial. If the students do not feel invited into the discussion at the beginning they will not be part of the more sophisticated analysis that comes later. In corporate and commercial law courses many bright students lack the business context necessary to feel truly comfortable with the material. I take pains to give the students a primer in business principles as they learn the legal material. I have found that students are much more likely to build a sophisticated mental model of corporate or commercial law if they have some understanding of the economics of the underlying transactions.

The second part -- appreciation -- requires that students use the material in a sophisticated way to gain expertise. While at the outset I deliberately break down the jargon into digestible bites, I also expect students to do something with that information. I expect them to construct a model of the law using the cases, statutes, and concepts as building blocks. I believe that students need a theoretical framework in order to build their mental model. With a sound theoretical underpinning (often law and economics serves this role for me) students can make sense of new information as it arrives and put it into place in an overall understanding of the course. Theory allows students to appreciate topics beyond the basics. My scholarship allows me to bring theory into the classroom to illuminate those nuanced points.

I do not believe, however, that a good theory is enough. I strive to provide real world context in my courses and to raise ethical issues for the class to address. Almost all my classes use problems as instructional materials. Beyond the in class problems, for the past several years I have been developing a testing technique based on the case file concept. I prepare a document package for the class that simulates the kind of file they will encounter in law practice. I hand it out to the class during the term with time for the students to digest the material and ask questions about it. Then, on the last day of class I give the students additional facts and issues to address in the take-home examination they must prepare. To learn more about this testing method, click here.

While I try to bring the experience of practicing law into my large classrooms by using role playing exercises and have taught courses that are based on simulated client representation, I have found that there is no substitute for live client contact when it comes to professional education. I developed the Small Business Clinic at Western New England University School of Law to provide my business law students with the kind of clinical experience that we have been providing to litigation-oriented law students for a long time.

The clinic is one of the cornerstone programs of the Western New England University Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. In addition to serving clients in the community, the Small Business Clinic often provides legal services to the businesses in the incubators located at the Scibelli Enterprise Center. As a capstone experience for a law student about to finish law school the clinic is a great way to synthesize the learning with the practice.

Center For Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)

Professor Gouvin has been involved with the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) for several years. He served as a member of the CALI Board of Editors form 1996 to 2008. The Board of Editors reviews proposed new CALI lessons for content and usability. The reviews are anonymous and are intended to provide feedback to lesson authors in order to help them develop more effective lessons. The Board of Editors also reviews the existing library from time to time.

In 2001 he was selected to be a CALI Business Organizations Fellow as part of a team charged with developing a comprehensive set of CALI lessons in the area of Business Organizations. The CALI Lessons he has authored are listed below (you will need a CALI password to access them):

Authority: Actual, Apparent, and Inherent (2002). This lesson discusses the power that an agent (or apparent agent) has to affect the legal rights of the principal. In general, an agent or apparent agent may affect the principal's legal rights only to the extent that the agent possesses the authority or the power to do so. This lesson provides an introduction to the three basic types of authority--actual authority, apparent authority, and inherent agency power.

Mechanics of Incorporation and Defective Incorporation (2002). This lesson examines the process of incorporation by allowing students to explore some typical articles of incorporation by clicking on hot spots. The lesson provides a guided tour through the various provisions of the articles of incorporation. The lesson also looks at what happens when the incorporation process is not carried out correctly.

The Ultra Vires Doctrine (2002). This lesson provides an overview of the historical significance of the ultra vires doctrine, its subsequent decline in importance, and its modern status.

The Master/Servant Relationship (2004). This lesson examines the creation of the master/servant relationship in agency law and contrasts that relationship with the status of independent contractor. The lesson provides an opportunity to think about why the distinction is important and how to tell whether a given relationship rises to the level of being a master/servant relationship or is merely an independent contractor relationship.

Piercing the Corporate Veil (2004). This lesson provides both a theoretical and practical overview of the piercing the corporate veil doctrine and related theories for imposing the obligations of corporations on other legal actors such as shareholders or related corporate entities.

Authority of Partners to Bind the Partnership (2005). This lessons examines the situations where a partner can bind the partnership in contract. Partners are both principals and agents for the partnership. This relationship creates some interesting problems of agency law.

Professor Gouvin has also participated in the CALI Annual Conference for Law School Computing. In 2002 he was a panelist on the topic of “Improving Editorial Review of CALI Lessons,” discussing methods to improve the effectiveness of editorial review of computer-based law instruction lessons. In 2003 he presented a program entitled “Teaching GameBoy-ers: PowerPoint, CALI Lessons, Excel and Developing Synergies With Research,” with Prof. Nicholas Georgakopoulos. The program discussed ways for law professors to employ technology to serve pedagogical purposes instead of feeling like the technology has taken over the class.

Teaching Scholarship

Teaching Scholarship

I also believe that professors should take the role of teacher seriously enough to talk to other professors about what we do in class and why we do it. As I have grown as a teacher I have shared my experiences with colleagues by presenting topics at, or otherwise participating in, several conferences or programs devoted to pedagogy.

The Lawyer’s Toolbox: Teaching Students About Risk Allocation,” presented at “Preparing the Transactional Lawyer: From Doctrine to Practice,” at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, GA, November 2, 2012.

Co-Presenter with Dr. Harlan Spotts,“Case Study: Rusty’s Custom Cycles,” at the Annual Meeting of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), New Orleans, LA, January 15, 2012 [peer-reviewed submission].

Presenter, “Quantifying the Pedagogical Value of an Integrated Business and Law Outreach Approach,” at Research and Pedagogical Trends in Entrepreneurship Education, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, May 12, 2011.

Presenter, “Why Do Interdisciplinary Work in Entrepreneurship?” at the session on the Law & Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), Hilton Head, SC (via Skype), January 13, 2011.

Presenter, Poster Presentation, “The Kauffman Foundation’s eLaw Project: An Online Community for Scholars and Teachers,” at Annual Meeting, Association of American Law Schools (AALS), San Francisco, CA, January 7, 2011,

Presenter, “The Making of a Deal Lawyer,” presentation to law faculty at University of Northern Kentucky Chase School of Law, Highland Heights, KY, September 15, 2010.

Presenter, “Putting Business into Business Law,” at the 9th Annual Transactional Law Clinic Conference at Arizona State University College of Law, Scottsdale, AZ, April 30, 2010.

Presenter, “Telling Business Stories,” presented at “Once Upon a Legal Time: Developing the Skills of Storytelling in Law,” City University, London, UK, July 20, 2007.

Presenter, “So You Want to Be an Adjunct Law Professor…,” presented at the Spring Meeting of the Section on Business Law, American Bar Association, Washington, D.C., March 18, 2007.

“Interdisciplinary Opportunities” at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, April 15, 2005, as part of the Fourth Annual Meeting of Law School Transactional & Small Business Clinic Educators.

"Top Ten Teaching Tips," Panelist at Western New England University School of Law, Faculty Colloquium on Teaching Methods, August 18, 2004.

“Curriculum: Teaching Materials and Methodology,” Panelist, at University of Pennsylvania Law School, April 16, 2004, as part of the Third Annual Meeting of Law School Small Business Clinic Educators, sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

“Starting a Business Law Clinic to Serve Real Clients,” Panelist, at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, April 25, 2003, as part of the Second Annual Meeting of Law School Small Business Clinic Educators, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation.

12th Annual Conference for Law School Computing, Panelist in discussion of methods to improve the effectiveness of editorial review of computer-based law instruction lessons, held at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL, June 20-22, 2002.

“Using the Exam as a Teaching Tool,” Presenter, AALS Conference on New Ideas for Experienced Teachers, Calgary, Alberta, June 12, 2001 (presentation was selected by organizers from thirty-seven proposals submitted by law faculty nationwide).

I have also written some short pieces addressing some topics of legal pedagogy: